Summary

The Bhavasankranti Sutra, "Sutra on Transmigration in Cyclic Existence," is a short sutra on the transmigration from one life to the next. It teaches that no element of existence (dharma) transmigrates, and yet rebirth occurs. At least, this is what all but one of the versions teach. Here in this volume, all four extant versions are translated. The earliest one says, contrary to the later three, that one dharma transmigrates. Nagarjuna's Sastra or treatise hereon explains transmigration in terms of emptiness. Also included is Maitreyanatha's commentary, retranslations into Sanskrit from Chinese and Tibetan, and the Tibetan texts.